Uryu and the Thousand Paper Cranes
by Within Imagination
Summary: How far is Uryu Ishida willing to go in order to save the life of a little girl in his father's hospital? /one-shot\ Characters may be slightly OOC. Based on the book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes". /one-shot\


WARNING: THIS STORY COULD MAKE YOU CRY! CHARACTERS MAY BE SLIGHTLY OOC (OUT OF CHARACTER)!

Well, I'm back far sooner than most of you would have predicted, but I've had the idea for this story in my head for so long that I just had to type it up. This story is loosely based on the true story of "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes", a touching book which made me cry... I don't know if I can re-create that same feeling in your hearts, but I know that I will try my best (I did cry while typing this, after all). I do not own Bleach, nor do I own "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes". Sadako's story can be found at the end.

...

Uryu Ishida sat at his desk in his apartment, carefully crafting an object with his hands. He folded the paper once, twice, three times, and many more after that. When the phone rang suddenly, he nearly crushed the object he was so gently creating.

"Hello?" he answered. "Ichigo? Well, I'm a little busy... What do you mean 'with what'? I do have things to do, you know. No, not that; I'm done with my homework for the weekend. No, I still don't have any spare time! Why? Because I'm busy! Yes, I know I've been busy for the past few months, but I- Well, there's no need to get angry! Would you just leave me alone? I'm not going anywhere right now and that's final!"

With that, he slammed the phone back down on the receiver. He sighed heavily.

_I shouldn't have been so hard on them... They don't know what's going on..._ _Who knows? Maybe they can help me... I **have **been working a while on this... But, no... It won't work if I have help..._

With another sigh, Uryu stared down at the now completed object in his hand. His eyes became slightly blurred with tears, but he quickly shunned then, rubbing his eyes furiously until they cleared.

"No, there's no time for that, now," he said to himself. "I have to get this finished in time. I just have to..."

...

A knock at his door promptly awoke Uryu from the sleep he had apparently fallen into at his desk.

_Oh, no! I fell asleep! How could I have-_

"Oi! Uryu! Open the door! Come on, we know you're in there!" a muffled voice yelled.

Uryu sighed and stood up, glancing in a mirror quickly to make sure he looked presentable before he opened the door.

"What are you doing here, Ichigo- Oh, you brought Chad and Inoue, too..."

"Yeah, they wanted to come see what was up," Ichigo replied gruffly.

"Ishida-kun," Orihime said, more gently. "We're worried about you... Why do you spend so much time in here? It's not healthy... You have to come out sometime..."

"I go to school," Uryu replied as he began to shut the door.

Ichigo slammed his hand against the edge of the door, effectively stopping it.

"Why do you always have to be so stubborn! You have to come out more than just for school! You've been showing up for school right as it starts and leaving right as it ends for the past four months! Some of the teachers even say you've been getting glower grades lately. What's up with you?" he asked, lowering his voice toward the end. Both Orihime and Chad nodded, waiting with worried looks for the Quincy to explain. Uryu sighed.

"Well, I suppose you all would have found out sooner or later..." he said, pulling the door open wider. "Come in."

They all entered his apartment and gasped at what they saw. Sitting on every bookshelf, windowsill, dresser, and pretty much any flat object, were little paper cranes. Orihime gently picked one up.

"Please be careful, I've worked so hard on all of them... I don't want to lose any," Uryu said solemnly.

"Ishida-kun..."

"What is all this?" Ichigo asked for the speechless girl.

"They're paper cranes," Uryu replied.

"Well, I know that!" Ichigo stated. "What I meant was what are they for?"

Uryu looked to the ground for a moment. All eyes rested on him as he sat back down at his desk and took another piece of paper, beginning to fold it.

"It all started four-and-a-half months ago," he started, never taking his eyes off of the piece of paper he was crafting. "I was visiting some of the younger patients in my father's hospital, as I do every once in a while. This time, though, there was a little girl there- only seven. Her name was Saki. She smiled at me and simply chattered away until I said I had to go. When I was outside of her room, I asked one of the nurses just what was wrong with her. The nurse replied that she had a disease- an incurable one; my father said she probably won't last another year. I was appalled by this, and horrified at the thought of such a lively, wonderful girl dying at such a young age..."

He paused in his folding for a short time before resuming.

"I visited Saki many times after that; but each time I visited her, she seemed to be getting worse. She became less talkative, and I needed to take breaks from visiting her so that she could rest. Her hands even became very shaky and unable to be used much.

It was after I had been visiting her for half-a-month that I remembered a story my mom used to tell me when I was little. It was the story of the thousand paper cranes. It is said in this story that if someone folds one thousand paper cranes all by themselves, then any one wish they make will come true. But Saki can't use her hands anymore, so I decided that I would just have to be her hands for this. I began to fold four months ago. I folded... and folded... and folded again. I'd always come home from school, do my homework, and then fold paper cranes late into the night; then I would wake up and fold them early in the morning before going back to school.

I just- I have to get these done... I have to fold one thousand paper cranes myself in order for my wish to come true. I want Saki to live, and I'm willing to try anything to make that happen..."

By the time he was finished talking, Uryu was holding up a newly-folded paper crane. There were traces of tears on his face, but not one could actually be seen. Orihime's face, on the other hand, was completely leaking with tears as she tried desperately to hold in her sobs. Chad's eyes were hidden beneath his hair, but if anyone could have seen them, they would have seen the complete anguish hidden inside them. Ichigo merely stared with wide-eyes as Uryu placed the paper-crane on the shelf above his desk, already packed with countless others.

"Ishida-kun..." Orihime began, but her tears and sobs kept her from saying anything else.

"I'm sorry," said Uryu. "I never wanted any of you to know this, simply because I didn't want you to feel the pain that I feel right now..."

"Ishida-kun... I just want you to know... That I'm so happy right now!" Orihime said as she finally began to stifle the tears. "I'm so happy... that you're willing to do this for that little girl! My brother always used to tell me the story of the thousand paper cranes, too... And I'm just so happy that you're trying so hard for Saki! Ishida-kun..."

Chad nodded at everything she said. Ichigo smiled at her and gave her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder before turning to Uryu.

"So, how many does that make?" he asked.

"627," Uryu replied, gazing up at his new masterpiece.

"Wow! You're really getting there, aren't you?" Ichigo whistled, before suddenly losing his smile and lowering his voice. "Uryu, I'm glad you're doing this, too. I couldn't even think of what would happen if it were Yuzu or Karin that were dying; heck, I would probably be doing the same thing. Keep it up; we'll be rooting for you."

At this, a single tear left one of Uryu's eyes.

"Thank you," he replied.

...

As more months began to roll by, Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad all visited Uryu often, sometimes even buying groceries for him or doing chores around the apartment while he continued to fold. He eventually became glad of the company they gave him; it eased his heart somewhat and distracted him from his troubles, even while he was folding. They even agreed to house some of the paper cranes in their own homes so that Uryu could have more space.

But one day, Uryu didn't show up for school; and as the day passed, it was clear he wasn't going to come at all.

"I wonder what's wrong with him..." Orihime mused. "I hope he's not sick!"

"Don't worry," said Ichigo. "We'll all just go over and see him after school, like always."

"But, I have plans with Tatsuki today... And if I remember right, Chad's been accused as one of the student's who started that food fight today, so he has to help clean up," Orihime replied.

"Oh, wow, really? That's tough, Chad; sorry."

Chad merely shook his head, as if to say he'd be fine.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to go and see him myself, then," Ichigo said.

"All right, give us a call and let us know what's going on, okay?" Orihime asked.

"Yeah, sure thing."

...

"Hey, Uryu? You in there?" Ichigo asked as he knocked on the door to the Quincy's apartment before smiling and rolling his eyes. "Well, of course you are; where else would you be?"

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal the pale complexion a very tired-looking teenage boy, only marred by his puffy, red eyes.

"Uryu?" Ichigo asked.

"I- Ichigo," Uryu sniffed. "I- I'm sorry. I should have known you would come..."

"Hey, Uryu, are you all right?"

"Just- just come in," said the boy as he opened the door wider.

Ichigo stepped inside and avoided all of the paper cranes scattered everywhere, as usual. He watched as Uryu sat down at his desk and slowly took out a piece of paper, as usual. But this time, Uryu sighed heavily and began to very slowly fold it. Silence filled the room, except for the occasional crinkle of paper being folded.

"So... What's going on? You weren't at school this morning?" Ichigo asked.

"I know."

More silence followed his short statement, but this time it was Uryu himself who broke it.

"I got a call from the hospital this morning. Saki died in her sleep very late last night; no one was even there to witness it. It was one of the only times her parents left to get some rest."

Ichigo frowned at the floor.

"I see... Uryu, I'm really sorry..."

"It isn't fair! It just isn't fair!" Uryu cried, slamming the piece of paper he was folding into the desk as tears began to flow freely from his eyes. "Why did she have to die? And even more why did she have to die _alone_! It isn't fair! It isn't fair..."

Ichigo walked over to Uryu's desk and gave him a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.

"My mom always used to tell me that most of the time, we don't really understand why certain people have to die; but what we have to remember is that no matter what, that person will always be with us... and what they want most is for us to be happy. Do you think that Saki would want you to be like this, Uryu?"

"Well... I don't really know," Uryu whispered, as the tears stopped and he slowly continued to fold the piece of paper. "I visited her yesterday. Before I left, I asked her if she was afraid to die. Do you want to know what she said to me?

"She said, 'Well, if I'm not afraid of death, then that must mean that I'm afraid of life... And I love life!'

Those were her last words to me. I- I just don't know what to make of them..."

Ichigo looked down as he felt tears of his own prick his eyes.

"Well, you can only hope that she's even happier with life where she is now."

Uryu smiled slightly as he finished the paper crane and cupped it in his hands.

"So, how many does that make?" Ichigo asked, hastily wiping away a tear.

"1,000."

...

"Sadako Sasaki lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing by the United States. She developed leukemia from the radiation and spent her time in a nursing home creating origami (folded paper) cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese saying that one who created a thousand origami cranes would then be granted a wish. Her wish was simply to live. However, she managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too weak to fold any more, and died shortly after. Her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes, which were buried with Sadako. They also built a statue of Sadako holding a giant golden origami crane in Hiroshima Peace Park.

"Now every year on Obon Day, which is a holiday in Japan to remember the departed spirits of one's ancestors, thousands of people leave paper cranes near the statue. On the statue is a plaque: 'This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace on Earth'."

-Wikipedia


End file.
